Philosophy

The picture to the left is Raphael's famous depiction of classical Greek philosophy. These thinkers have greatly influenced many cultures throughout history,but they are neither the beginning nor the end of all philosophy. What woulda contemporary "School of Athens" look like? What would take place there?What is philosophy's practical role in our lives?      At its best, contemporary philosophy isnot simply a matter of restating and debating classical questions. It isan interdisciplinary practice that draws on the strengths of many diversecommunities of inquiry in an effort to cultivate a very general, yet alsovery situational and particular understanding of the world. With this inmind, please enjoy the following exploration of philosophy.

School of Athens by Raffaelo (Raphael)

Table of Contents

Introduction	What is Philosophy? Philosophy is Practical
Traditions of Inquiry	The Practice of Philosophy Poetry as Philosophy Rationalism Feminism
Ecosophy	Ecological Philosophy Social Ecology Ecofeminism Bioregionalism Deep Ecology Earth First!
Philosophy Online	Online Philosophizing Links to Other Sites
Essays	Essay Page

Introduction

What is philosophy?

     What is philosophy? From the Greek rootsphilia and sophia, philosophy can be thought of as the loveof wisdom or understanding. While this is neither a flawless translationof the ancient Greek nor a precise definition of the modern usage, it givesa clear image of what I understand to be philosophy.
     Philosophy is not just about abstract concepts and cold logic, nor is it a matter of unexamined beliefs and fleeting emotions. Philosophy is an activity, a synthesis of insightful examination and meaningful experience and action. The definition of philosophy varies tremendouslydepending on the worldview of the person doing the defining, but it is alwaysabout developing consciousness and understanding the self and the world.

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Philosophy is Practical

     Many people, including some philosophers,have an 'ivory tower' understanding of philosophy. They believe that philosophyis an abstract discipline practiced by professors who live and develop theirthoughts in isolation from the problems and influences of 'the real world.'
     That is not philosophy. If philosophy is thelove of understanding, then how can it take place without a practical understanding of the world in which we live? At its fullest, philosophical understanding both requires and encourages active participation in the world. To understand philosophy of politics, for example, we must explore in practice different ways of sharing power and making decisions together. To understand metaphysics, we must examine the fundamental nature of the world through empirical research and the insights of direct experience. Without these and other ways of practically engaging the world, not only is philosophy a dead field of inquiry - it is also simply not philosophy.

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Traditions of Inquiry

The Practice of Philosophy

     The methods of engaging in philosophy areas diverse as the worldviews of philosophers. Some people have a very narrowdefinition of philosophy. For these people, in order for something to bephilosophy it must be an essay, paper, or book structured in a specific wayusing deductive logic to carry a set of premises to new conclusions. Otherpeople have a much broader concept of the practice of philosophy. Along withaccepting a much broader range of writing styles, some people also recognizeart, music, poetry, dance, ritual, meditation, and other diverse activitiesas philosophy. I tend to lean more towards this second category, so to theextent possible in a website you will see an examination of a wide varietyof philosophical forms. The one characteristic I would argue that is commonto all philosophy is that it consists of mindful thought and action undertakenwith an intent to understand, express, explore, or communicate some concept,experience, or other form of knowledge or understanding.

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Poetry As Philosophy

     I have written an essayon the subject of poetry as philosophy. To read it, click here . If you are interested in discussing this topic further, please feel free to e-mail me and I will do my best to oblige.

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Rationalism

    'Rationalism' is the philosophical tradition that identifiesrationality - objective, correct thinking - as the defining characteristicof all proper thought and action.
    If there ever was a mixed blessing, rationalism isit. On the one hand, it has brought us: an end to superstition, the riseof philosophy over force as the source of decision-making, the advance ofscience and technology, and numerous victorious challenges to the arbitraryauthority of gods and masters. On the other hand, it has also brought us:the rise of egoism and capitalism, the advance of science and technology,superstitious rejection of 'psychic' phenomena, devaluation of aestheticand emotional experience, and the uncompromising dismissal of all non-rationalisttraditions without even the pretense of a casual examination.
    I consider myself a rationalist, but not in the sense that the word is usually used. There is a distinction between 'instrumental' and 'dialectical' rationality. Instrumental rationality is the sort of mathematical logic that allows us to build bridges, design airplanes, etc., using an empirical understanding of the world and the principles that seem to underlie the subject of our observations. Dialectical rationality, on the other hand, is a complex and organic rationality that uses the sort of developmental logic that is involved in organic processes such as the growth from an acorn into an oak tree.
    Using one sort of rationality where the other is called for can have disastrous effects. For example, dialectics offers us little insight into bridge-building. You can't build a miniature, more embryonic bridge and expect it to develop into a larger and more sophisticated bridge under the proper conditions. However, it is equally absurd to apply instrumental logic to the developmental processes that are central to all life. Instrumental logic has no clear understanding of how one thing, an infant for example, can become a very different thing, namely a full-grown adult. It also has no clear understanding of social, economic, and political processes. Creating blueprints and formulas for sociopolitical development is nonsense; you can't draw a map of how a society will develop any more than a child can draw a map of their own development into adulthood. What you can do, however, is structure the institutions and organizations of your society with an internal logic of development that will tend to lead them forward in the direction of the sort of society that you would like to create.
    In this way, the more sophisticated rationalism offered to us by dialectical thinking is an essential - and often overlooked - tool in understanding the development of our personal, social, and political lives. It is this rationalism, which retains and surpasses the benefits of instrumental rationalism, that should be properly called rationalism and be a central partof all philosophy.

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Feminism

     This website has an entire Topic devoted to feminism that can be viewed at treesong.org/feminism/.

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Ecosophy

Ecological Philosophy

     Ecosophy, or ecological philosophy, isthe broadly defined philosophical field that takes an ecological approachto the search for understanding. Ecosophy seeks not only to examine ecologicalissues philosophically, but also to examine all philosophical issues ecologically- in other words, in a way that incorporates an understanding of the worldas a complex, organic web of interrelated being.
     As with philosophy in general, there isno single individual, group, or school of academic thought that can be identified as the originator of ecosophy, or as the contemporary tradition that most closely demonstrates the theories or practices of ecosophy. Particular traditions can be classified as ecosophical or non-ecosophical according to whetheror not they incorporate an understanding of ecology, but among those thatdo incorporate such an understanding, there is no single, clear, comprehensive theory of ecology, any more than there is such a theory for philosophy in general. Instead, there is an organic network of interrelated thinkers and traditions. Some of these have a coherent worldview to offer, while others only have bits and pieces of insight strung together into a loosely defined tradition. Some of these conflict with one another, while others find complimentary ways of interacting. Whatever their conflicts or shortcomings, however, each tradition in ecosophy has its own unique insights to offer us in our attempts to draw together our own organic, cohesive, and internally consistent worldview.
     Among the most prominent traditions in ecosophy today are Social Ecology, Ecofeminism, Bioregionalism, Deep Ecology, andthe Earth First! movement.

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Social Ecology

     Social Ecology is a radical school of philosophicalthought and political action that strives to articulate and address theroot causes of contemporary social and ecological crises through a sophisticatedunderstanding of the relationships between such key concepts as 'nature'and 'society.' Dialectical naturalism, the philosophical core of Social Ecology,identifies natural evolution as a directional (but not deterministic orteleological) progression toward ever-increasing diversity of life, complexityof consciousness, and freedom of choice. Once these central tendencies ofnatural evolution are recognized, we can use our dialectical understandingof the world to establish these principles as the foundations of our ethicaland political decision-making.
     By far, Social Ecology is the most articulate and complex ecosophical tradition to date. The articulation of this philosophy by Murray Bookchin and his academic and political associates arguably constituted the birth of contemporary ecosophy, and while it sometimes fails to incorporate the strengths of other perspectives, Social Ecology is almost certainlythe most theoretically sophisticated and coherent ecosophical traditionof this or any other time in history. It resolves the age-old nature versusculture dichotomy by identifying society, or 'second nature,' as a dialecticaloutgrowth of the evolution of first nature - retaining first nature at itscore, while at the same time transcending first nature through incorporatinga consciousness of both first and second nature into the structure of society.The social activities of human beings don't fully constitute second natureyet because our society does not fully incorporate an understanding of ecologicalprocesses. However, by recognizing that human society is indeed a part ofnatural evolution, Social Ecology not only resolves the nature versus culturedichotomy, but also provides us with a basis for choosing our values andmaking ethical and political decisions that will lead to the establishmentof a truly sane, equitable, liberated, and ecological second nature.
     For more information about Social Ecology, please have a look at my SocialEcology page or the website of the Institute for Social Ecology .

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Ecofeminism

    Ecofeminism ties together feminism's post-modern andpost-structuralist understanding of social relations with an organic andecological understanding of our society's relations with the rest of theEarth. Ecofeminism is founded in large part on the realization that the dominationof women and the domination of nature are interconnected in our society.Metaphors of femininity, masculine domination, and even rape are used todescribe the natural world and society's relationship with nature. Similarly,the domination of women by men has often been excused by arguing that womenare more animalistic and closer to the 'slimy' material reality of nature,which then somehow degrades them and separates them from the 'noble' exerciseof rationality and participation in society.
    In some instances, ecofeminism fails to question this societal association and agrees that there is an actual objective connection between being female and being 'closer to nature.' This leads to a simple inversion of values; the feminine becomes cherished over the masculine, and males are seen as necessarily more connected to the violence and oppression of patriarchy and anthropocentrism.
    However, a deeper and more insightful ecofeminism recognizes that this link itself is a false one, the result of a confused and monolithic understanding of what it is to be a woman and what exactly 'nature' is. By questioning the supposed association between women and nature, this deeper ecofeminism allows us to question the whole dichotomy between man and woman, society and nature, in order to develop more complex, organic, and liberatory understandings of gender, sex, sexuality, and ecology.
 

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Bioregionalism

    'Bioregionalism' is a theory and practice that placescentral importance on the bioregion as a primary unit of social and ecologicalorganization.
    What is a bioregion? Here is a quote from Peter Bergand wildlife ecologist Raymond Dasmann in which they offer the first everdefinition of a bioregion:

Bioregions are geographic areas having common characteristics of soil, watershed, climate, native plants and animals that exist within thewhole planetary biosphere as unique and intrinsic contributive parts. A bioregionrefers both to geographical terrain and a terrain of consciousness - to aplace and the ideas that have developed about how to live in that place...A bioregion can be determined initially by use of climatology, physiography, animal and plant geography, natural history and other descriptive natural sciences. The final boundaries of a bioregion, however, are best described by the people who have lived within it, through human recognition of the realitiesof living-in-place... there is a distinctive resonance among living thingsand the factors that influence which occurs specifically within each separateplace on the planet. Discovering and describing that resonance is a way todescribe a bioregion.

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Deep Ecology

As a simple and straightforward way of introducing you to Deep Ecology,allow me to present to you the Deep Ecology Platform, a collaborative workof Arne Naess and George Sessions:

1. The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves (synonyms: inherent worth; intrinsic value; inherent value). These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes.
2. Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves.
3. Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs.
4. Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.
5. The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life requires such a decrease.
6. Policies must therefore be changed. The changes in policies affect basic economic, technological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present.
7. The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent worth) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profoundawareness of the difference between big and great.
8. Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to participate in the attempt to implement the necessary changes.

For more information, you can visit the Deep Ecology Foundation website at www.deepecology.org .

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Earth First!

     Of all the examples of ecosophy in existencetoday, Earth First! is clearly the most politically active - and yet, itis also the least philosophically precise. Earth First! arose as an activistmovement, seeking to take direct action to halt the senseless destructionof the world's few remaining wild, relatively intact ecosystems for thesake of short-term private profit. In the early days, it was a medley of"redneck" wilderness conservation, deep ecology, and ecological anarchism - and in the twenty years or so since its humble beginnings, Earth First! philosophy and practice has continued to become a more curious and complex mixture of eclectic and sometimes conflicting ecosophies, expanding to include social ecologists, bioregionalists, animal rights activists, and other perspectives on what the key issues in ecosophy and contemporary society are.
     In my opinion, the greatest philosophical contributions that Earth First! has to offer are its intimate cognitiveidentification with wilderness and its philosophy of uncompromising defenseof ecological values. The very name, Earth First!, is at once simple andbroad enough to include a diverse network of campaigns and activists, whileat the same time being clear and uncompromising in its commitment to placeecological values at the center of the ethical realm. The movement has itsdifficulties, both from a philosophical and strategic standpoint, but theways in which Earth First! allows both immediate direct action on ecologicalissues and a confluence of divergent perspectives on ecological philosophymake Earth First!, in my opinion, one of the most important movements inhistory.
     For more information about Earth First!, please have a look at my Earth First!page or the website of the Earth First! Journal .

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Philosophy Online

Online Philosophizing

     As a long-time Internet user and philosopher,I have had a great deal of experience exploring the ways in which philosophycan and does take place online. Online philosophizing has its definite advantagesand disadvantages. For example, the medium allows for people from aroundthe world with diverse economic circumstances and social situations to gatherin a single place, at a single time, to share their thoughts and life experiences.At its best, this allows for some incredible philosophical interaction,the likes of which has seldom been seen prior to the invention of this technology.However, the greater potential for anonymity, the loss of non-verbal communication,and the tendency of some people to view online communication as not being'real' communication can lead to a variety of complex and often frustratingdifficulties.
     I believe that every philosopher, whatever their area of focus, should engage in online real-time philosophy 'chat'at some point in order to have the experience. Not only is it a tremendousopportunity for learning about philosophy and communication, but you canalso meet some of the world's most fascinating and insightful philosopherson a good day.
     I frequent the online philosophy discussions on Internet Relay Chat (IRC); specifically, two 'channels' on Undernet called #philosophy and #thought. For more information on how to visit these channels, please contact me or visit the Undernet #philosophy website at www.philosophy-irc.com - though I must in good conscience note that I have certain long-standing disagreements with the management of #philosophy regarding freedom of speech on the channel (or the lack thereof).

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